Gene-environment interactions modulating cognitive function and molecular correlates of synaptic plasticity in Huntington's disease transgenic mice

Abstract

Huntington's disease (HD) is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder characterized by motor, cognitive and psychiatric symptoms. Here, we show that R6/1 (HD) mice have deficits in short-term hippocampal-dependent memory prior to onset of motor symptoms. HD mice also exhibit impaired performance on a test of long-term spatial memory, however, environmental enrichment enhanced spatial learning and significantly ameliorated this memory deficit in HD mice. Analysis of the presynaptic vesicle protein synaptophysin showed no differences between standard-housed wild-type and HD littermates, however, enrichment increased synaptophysin levels in the frontal cortex and hippocampus in both groups. In compar..